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ABB and IBM have formed a strategic collaboration that brings together ABB’s industrial digital offering, ABB Ability, with IBM Watson Internet of Things cognitive capabilities to “unlock new value for customers in utilities, industry, transport and infrastructure”, according to the two supersized tech companies.

Customers will be provided access to ABB’s domain knowledge and portfolio of digital solutions combined with IBM’s expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning as well as different industry verticals.

IBM has entered into a new collaboration with the BMW Group, through which the companies will work together to explore the role of Watson cognitive computing in personalizing the driving experience and creating more intuitive driver support systems for cars of the future.

As part of the agreement, the BMW Group will collocate a team of researchers at IBM’s global headquarters for Watson Internet of Things (IoT) in Munich, Germany and the companies will work together explore how to improve intelligent assistant functions for drivers.

Schaeffler, one of the world’s leading automotive and industrial suppliers, has signed a multi-year strategic partnership agreement with IBM to accelerate the digital transformation of its entire operations and customer solutions using Watson’s cognitive intelligence and insight from billions of sensors that make up the internet of things (IoT).

Schaeffler manufactures millions of precision-engineered products that help to keep the world’s machines moving – from those that go into automotive clutch systems, to those in hybrid engines and the huge industrial bearings used in wind turbines.

Local Motors CEO and co-founder John Rogers with Olli. (Rich Riggins/Feature Photo Service for IBM)

Local Motors, a vehicle technology integrator and claimed to be the creator of the world’s first 3D-printed cars, has introduced the first self-driving vehicle to integrate the advanced cognitive computing capabilities of IBM Watson.

The vehicle, dubbed “Olli”, was unveiled during the opening of a new Local Motors facility in National Harbor, MD last week, and transported Local Motors CEO and co-founder John Rogers along with vehicle designer Edgar Sarmiento from the Local Motors co-creation community into the new facility.

Hilton Worldwide and IBM have introduced a robot concierge. “Connie” – based on Aldebaran’s Nao robot – is the first Watson-enabled robot concierge in the hospitality industry, claims IBM.

Connie draws on domain knowledge from Watson and WayBlazer to inform guests on local tourist attractions, dining recommendations and hotel features and amenities.

Connie, named for Hilton’s founder Conrad Hilton, marks the first time IBM has developed a Watson-enabled robot for the hospitality market. Connie will work side-by-side with Hilton’s Team Members to assist with visitor requests, personalize the guest experience and empower travelers with more information to help them plan their trips. [Read more…] about IBM pilots robot as Hilton hotel concierge

The UK Labour Party is urging the government to turn away from “the gods of the free market” and instead roll out the red carpet to our new robot overlords.

Or at least that’s what could be inferred from an opinion piece written by the Labour Party’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, who made it clear that he favours mechatronics over abstract notions of free markets.

“A robot driving a lorry may sound daunting, just as a horseless carriage did in 1890. But a driverless car doesn’t get tired, or drink alcohol, or have blind spots,” writes Watson in praise of the machines.

Watson calls for a royal commission into the issue of robotics and automation in the UK, claiming that the chancellor, George Osborne, is leaving to fate to decide whether technological change becomes “out ally not our foe”.

KPMG and IBM have signed a deal to apply IBM’s Watsoncognitive computing technology to KPMG’s management consultancy services.

The agreement, including a focus on auditing services, builds on several recent KPMG initiatives that the companies say demonstrate the promise of cognitive technologies in transforming the firm’s ability to deliver innovative and enhanced business services.

“The cognitive era has arrived,” said Lynne Doughtie, KPMG chairman and CEO. “KPMG’s use of IBM Watson technology will help advance our team’s ability to analyze and act on the core financial and operational data so central to the health of organizations and the capital markets.

One of the fastest growing areas IT sector is increasingly focusing on is automation in healthcare. As the healthcare provider’s world over are actively focused towards attaining the twin objective of reducing costs and waste and improve the healthcare quality, automation of manual tasks becomes a significant strategy to measure performance in healthcare delivery. The proliferation of medical images forms a vital part of manual tasks faced by clinicians and radiologists.

These medical images are fastest-growing data source in the healthcare industry; and as estimated by researchers at IBM, a renowned American multinational technology corporation, they contribute to around 90 per cent of all medical data in the world today. Managing electronic health records along with medical images pose daunting tasks for healthcare providers in terms of limited tools and time available.

IBM has introduced new and expanded cognitive APIs for developers that the company claims “enhance Watson’s emotional and visual senses, further extending the capabilities of the industry’s largest and most diverse set of cognitive technologies and tools”.